Harrisburg's public transportation is lacking

I have been attending Harrisburg Area Community College for the fall semester. I am an international student, and being such comes with limited re­sources.One of my few complaints about Harrisburg is transportation. Finding a way to get to class is one of the biggest problems for international students (and some locals, too).

Former Patriot-News reporter Rick Seltzer waiting for the CAT bus to Carlisle at the Market Square Transfer Center in Harrisburg. DANIEL JOHNSON, The Patriot-News

Some, as I do, ride a bicycle. Others depend on the kindness of friends, family or host families to get to classes. But what perhaps is most popular is public transportation. The Harrisburg area needs a more satisfactory public transportation service

A few weeks ago, after riding my bike in the rain for the first time, I decided to get a monthlong bus ticket. Riding in the rain is not safe, let alone pleasurable, way to get to class. So I did some research and the only available public transportation to get to HACC and found something that bothered me. It usually takes me about 20 to 25 minutes to get from my house to college while riding my bike. It takes me about two hours to get from my house to college by bus. Yes, that’s right, it takes me six times longer to get home if I choose to ride the bus, and I live relatively close to campus.

I am a member of the International Awareness Club at HACC, and being a member gave me the wonderful opportunity to meet many people from all over the world. I often ask other students about their situation in the United States. We all come from different backgrounds and have our own stories on how we got here.

A few days ago, I was talking to a Ukrainian girl about her experience with local public transportation. “I don’t like it. In this area,you need a car for transportation,” Mariya Anosova told me. “We are students in a community college; we are ‘supposed’ to commute. Am I expected to get a car? I don’t have the money for a car right now,” she explained. “It’s weird, you know? In Ukraine, everyone rides the bus, but here I think people downgrade you for taking the bus.”

Being able to afford and drive a car for an international student is not an easy task. First, you have to go through legal paperwork to validate your driver’s license from other countries. If you do not have any kind of driver’s license, it is an even longer process.

The paperwork needed for an F-1 alien to apply for a license might not be that different from the paperwork an American would need, but it is easier for Americans to acquire the necessary documents. For example, one must bring his Social Security card to the Department of Motor Vehicles. An international student must go through even more paperwork in order to get a Social Security card.

Second, affording a car is not always easy, especially now. For students who come from other countries with devalued currency, money is a big issue. South American students, for example, have to deal with their devalued currency compared with the American dollar.

Take, for instance, Argentina. Every American dollar equals about four Argentinean pesos, which means everything is four times more expensive. Think of gasoline, insurance, and everything that comes with buying a car; now multiply the entire cost by four.

Ignacio Fernandez-Motta

I spoke with Jennifer Daley, the International Student Coordinator at HACC’s Center of Global Education. She is a counselor for international students and assists them with their difficulties in America. “I can’t tell you how many students complain about the public transportation,” she told me. “They usually complain about how long it takes for buses to come around, and also how they have to transfer so many times. It takes some students about two hours to get to their homes when they live 10 minutes away from HACC.”

I replied with a sympathetic nod. “They also complain about how early the service stops. That really limits students that want to take night classes or classes during Saturdays,” she added. She told me about her husband, who used to live in Canada, and experienced public transportation in both places. “Up there, everyone uses the bus; down here it’s like the last resort for transportation.”

I would like the entire college experience to be a little easier for any student whose transportation options are limited. There are more than 23,000 students who attend HACC, and many do not own cars. Sometimes not only students rely on public transportation, but also college staff.

I believe that improving the public transportation system could help everyone. It would mean fewer cars on roads, which would mean less traffic, not to mention lower pollution. All in all, improving aspects of public transportation could benefit the lives of not only a few, but of many of us in this community.

IGNACIO FERNANDEZ-MOTTA is an international student from Argentina who is attending HACC.